ANST - FW: Musing on July 11 -- I got spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle!

[j'lynn yeates]

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From: Ellsworth Weaver [mailto:astroweaver at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 22:11
To: 2thpix at surfari.net
Subject: Musing on July 11 -- I got spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle!


Dear Folk,

On July 11, 1302, an elite cavalry force approached an untrained
militia mostly made up of guildsmen, weavers. The results of that day
spelled eventual victory for the weavers but death for Scots and
Templars and loss for the Jews. This is the date of The Battle of the
Golden Spurs.

The French king. Philip "the Fair" (meaning "good looking" not about
his willingness to share) had long coveted the wealth of Flanders.
The
place was mostly owned and run by guilds, independent of any throne
or
crown. The most influential of these were the weavers’ guilds. They
made the fine linen cloth and lace.

Philip had been fighting with the English, led by Eddie I
("Longshanks"). Phil had even kidnapped, assassinated and bought a
Catholic pope or two. All of this warring and work on Church
beautification had sapped the treasury of the French. No money, no
war.
Simple as that. So, where could a good-looking, studly kind of king
get
some spending cash? Look to the merchants! You ask them first and if
they refuse to pay the insurance – "shame if some clumsy knight were
to
wander into your shop and set fire to your loom, Monsieur Devreese" –
then you have to go send out some collectors. These knightly guys
were
led by the French commander, the Duc d’Artois. Along with them came
Pierre Flotte and Raoul de Nesles. More about these three in a sec.

On June 11th, the elite of the French chivalry, mounted of course,
came
riding toward  the city Kortrijk (Courtrai in French) in Flanders.
The
weavers and friends were standing their ground (the only dry spot
around) on Groeninge field. The surrounding area was muddy and mucky.
The French cavalry charged but got bogged down. The weavers with
their
bill hooks and bowmen calmly opened them up like crawfish at a
Draconian (that's in Louisiana, ya'll) feast. Same results. Raoul saw
that the battle was lost but plunged into it as a sort of suicide
rush.
He had decided better a dead hero than having to live with defeat.
Duc
d’Artois was stabbed by a lay brother from the Ter Doest abbey in
western Flanders Guillaume Vansaeftingen. Great name, right? Several
folks afterwards wanted his name tattooed on their chests; none
survived the ordeal. Pierre Flotte, French lawyer and teacher, also
died in the fray.

Pierre Flotte is not as remembered as his star pupil, Guillaume de
Nogaret, who upon his mentor’s death became king Phil the Good
Looking’s chief advisor and favorite badman. Any RL Templars out
there?
Okay, I know my Masonic friends are. Reason I asked was that Nogaret
was the one who led the arrest of the Templars that Friday Oct 13,
1307.

Why is it called the Battle of the Golden Spurs? Those danged weavers
cut off the spurs of the French knights and tacked the rowels up in
in
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw church in Kortrijk. Kind of pretty decoration.
Unfortunately, French troops came back in 1382 during the Battle of
Westrozebeke and took the spurs away. How rude! The spurs which are
in
the church today are fake ones but don’t tell anyone and everyone
will
still dig it.

With no army, Phil had to knock off feuding with Eddie I. That
suddenly
meant that Eddie could devote all his efforts to whomping on the
Scots.
In fact William Wallace (remember "Braveheart"?) was forced out of
Phil’s court and back to Scotland. Wallace was betrayed to Longshanks
within three years.

With no money, Phil had to figure another place or places to squeeze.
He had two ready sources at home: the Jews and the Templars. Phil
"nationalized" (stole) all Jewish property and kicked them out of the
country. Eddie over across the channel had done a similar thing. Phil
was in hock up to his good looking eyebrows to the Templars. Hmmm.
Maybe he could arrest them and steal all the Templar treasure. You
tell
me if you think he found it all. Some of the Templars made it over to
Scotland to fight against Eddie. Seemed only right. St. Clair
(Sinclair) is a name you might want to look up yourselves in that
aspect.

What have we learned? A strong army with get you through times with
no
money better than money will get you through times without an army? I
don’t think so. Cavalry is just not the answer in every situation?
Don’t go to other people’s back yard and act tough? Didn’t we have
that
somewhere before? It is dangerous to loan money to a king? I think
the
best thought is "Don’t mess with the Weavers!" *G*

Wobbling but not falling down,
J.  Ellsworth Weaver (tee-hee)

SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
TRV – Sebastian Yeats

As always if you forward these, leave my name and sig attached. You
saw
what happened to Duc d’Artois and his Frenchy boys. Grrrrr!


=====
SmileWeavers Astrology Charts & Interpretations
Modern & Medieval (but always discreet)
If you are interested, contact me at
astroweaver at yahoo.com or 805.473.8867

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